It is well known in the drycleaning field to utilize a filtering system to clean and purify the drycleaning fluid during the drycleaning process. The filtering system includes one or a plurality of cylindrical filter tanks connected in parallel and containing a number of annular filter elements placed end-to-end therewithin. During the filter process, drycleaning fluid is pumped from the drycleaning machine to the outer periphery of the filter elements. The fluid then passes radially inwardly through the filter elements where the fluid is cleansed and purified. The fluid then passes out of the filter elements and filter tanks through a central passage. After a certain number of pounds of clothes are cleaned, the filter elements are considered spent; (i.e. the elements have lost their capacity to fully clean and purify the fluid), and the filter elements are removed from the tanks and fresh elements substituted in lieu thereof.
Even though prior to the removal of the spent elements from the filter tanks, the tanks are drained of cleaning fluid, there remains a great deal of residual drycleaning fluid trapped in the spent elements. Previous to the present invention, this residual fluid was disposed of along with the spent element. With rising prices of drycleaning fluid, problems of chemical disposal and increasing concerns regarding the escape and inhalation of drycleaning fluid fumes, it has become more important to reclaim or recover as much of the residual drycleaning fluid which remains in the spent elements.
According to the present invention, before removing spent filter cartridges from the filter tanks, steam is introduced into the tanks and is caused to pass through the cartridges. The steam causes residual cleaning fluid to become dislodged from the cartridge material and to vaporize to form a steam/cleaning-fluid vapor mixture. This vapor mixture is introduced into a novel drycleaning fluid reclaiming apparatus which includes a condensing chamber and a water/drycleaning-fluid separating chamber. Thus, after separation the drycleaning fluid which was heretofore discarded can be reused, and much of the drycleaning fluid vapors which were before present when the filtering tanks were opened by the operator will no longer present a health hazard to the operator or a pollution problem to the environment.
It is therefore one object of the invention to provide a method of reclaiming residual drycleaning fluid from spent filter elements prior to the removal of the elements from the filter tank.
It is another object of the invention to provide a novel apparatus for recovering crycleaning fluid from a mixture of drycleaning fluid vapor and water vapor without the escape of a substantial amount of drycleaning fluid vapor into the environment.